Six communities in Maine will get help from the state as they work to revitalize industrial sites, the Mills Administration announced Tuesday.
Auburn, Bucksport, Lincoln, Millinocket, Wiscasset and Yarmouth will participate in the Maine Community Energy Redevelopment Program, which is funded by federal pandemic relief money.
“As Maine’s clean energy economy continues to grow, legacy sites with underutilized electrical infrastructure have an opportunity to capitalize on the transition through redevelopment,” Dan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Energy Office said in a statement.
The program will offer the towns “expert guidance and technical assistance.”
The hope is to revitalize the sites as part of job creation and renewed economic development.
The programs are:
- In Auburn, the city is working to align commercial and industrial development in a forest biproducts hub.
- In Bucksport, the town is planning to redevelop industrial land along the Penobscot River near the downtown.
- In Lincoln, the town is developing a business plan to bring additional industrial anchor tenants to the Lincoln Technology Park, formerly the Lincoln Paper and Tissue Mill.
- In Wiscasset, the town is looking to develop the 33-acre Birch Point Peninsula and the 297-acre parcel along Old Ferry Road across from the decommissioned Maine Yankee Nuclear Plant.
- In Yarmouth, the town is looking at redevelopment possibilities for Wyman Station, an oil-fired power plant on Cousins Island that runs only a few days a year during periods of high demand.
The program does not provide funding, according to the press release. Instead, it offers technical assistance to make it more likely the projects will qualify for local, state and federal funds.
Ruth Birtz, economic development administrator for Lincoln, said the town is looking to refine its plan for redeveloping the former mill site.
“The technical assistance we receive through the program will complement ongoing efforts to redevelop the site, including the recent investment of nearly $150 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to support an innovative energy storage facility in the park,” she said.
